Friday, August 5, 2011

DC Police Refuse To Report Anti-Gay Attack On 5 Lesbians

The Washington Blade reports an anti-gay assault that took place outside the Columbia Heights Metro station at 3 AM on July 30th. The incident started when two men flirted with one of a group of five women, who turned him down and indicated she was with her girlfriend. At that point, the man began screaming about "dyke bitches" and physically attacked them while a third videotaped the encounter.

The police were called and they responded, restraining the man but outrageously letting him go. When the women requested to file a report, the officers on scene refused to hear their story and left the incident un-addressed.

"According to Morse and the other victim, six or seven officers arrived on the scene in four police cars after responding to an apparent 911 call from a bystander. The two women said the officers, who are assigned to the Third District police station, refused to take a report of the incident, ignoring the women’s repeated requests to make a report.

"'The police grabbed one of the attackers and restrained him,' Morse told the Blade. 'Then they let him go. And then they said they didn’t want to hear our stories.'

"An officer assigned to the D.C. police Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit did make a report of the incident three days later, on Aug. 2. Morse said the GLLU became involved after her mother called police to complain about the refusal of the officers on the scene to report the attack.

"The GLLU report lists the incident as an anti-gay hate crime."

The DC GLLU is the first unit of its kind in the United States, and you would think in our nation's capital situations like this would be addressed promptly and appropriately.